Wonderful British Character Actor Warren MItchell has passed away at the age of 89.

Probably best remembered across the pond for playing Alf Garrett in Johnny Specht's TILL DEATH US DO PART, the show that was adapted by Norman Lear over here into ALL IN THE FAMILY, but Archie Bunker never held a candle to Alf Garrett, who was never made so cute and cuddly that the conservatives and racists tuned in to agree with him. Here's an episode to give you an idea:

Marvelous he certainly was. And matched by the equally great Dandy Nichols, who as his calmly disaffected wife Else could be counted on to skewer her screaming husband with just a couple of well timed words. Johnny Speight remembered that the series became "unstuck" and declined rapidly when she moved on in 1974.

It's heartbreaking that so many of the early episodes of this landmark series are gone forever...